Tap tube



nection 32 threaded into the head and registering with passage 2|, together with a coupling sleeve 33 which binds the faucet proper to plug 32. The faucet valve is of the type disclosed in my Patent 2,170,922. A valve piece 34 is adapted to engage a seat 35 to shut off flow. This valve piece is on the inner end. of a stem 36 which has an enlarged cylindrical portion 31 that is slidably supported in a guiding socket 38 of the faucet. This portion 31 has a slot 39 intermediate its ends which receives a bar 43 on the lower end of a handle 4! which is mounted-for rocking movement in the faucet body. 42 is a small threaded plug with a vertical slot 43 in one side and a gasket 44 underneath its head. When the plug is threaded upwardly somewhat so as to expose slot 43, air can enter and mix with the beverage to provide whatever degree of aeration may be desired. There is also a small port 45 with which a slot 45 in the stem registers when the valve is closed. This latter arrangement prevents the formation of a partial vacuum and slow drip from the closed faucet in the event that plug 42 is screwed down.

In order to provide further cooling and insulating means for the exposed part of the tap tube, I surround the latter with a cylindrical casing 41 which may be formed of a plastic or other non-metallic material. This casing fits into an annular recess in head 25 so as to be flush with the side wall of the head, and at its lower end it fits into an annular plate 48 which is threaded upon a collar 49 that is shrunk onto the pipe 12. A set screw 50 prevents accidental unthreading of the plate.

Casing 41 is received in a sleeve iii of metal which acts as a support for the casing and tap tube, being provided with a collar 52 which is shrunk onto the sleeve and serves to engage the upper surface of the cabinet. The sleeve 5| fits snugly within the opening II of the cabinet. This supporting sleeve member is threaded on its lower extremity to take a flanged cap 53 which acts with the collar 52 to clamp the sleeve to the cabinet. In order to provide a shoulder against which the plate 48 may rest, an internal bead 54 is rolled into the sleeve. There are openings 55 in the plate 48 and openings 58 in cap 53. The annular space within cylindrical casing 41 is therefore in free communication with the interior of the cabinet I0 which is usually refrigerated, and the cool air in the cabinet circulates through this annular space and serves to maintain cool the tap tube including the contents of small tube I5.

I also provide in the assembly a convenient means for venting the container. For this,purpose I employ a tube 60 of small size having its lower end turned at right angles and extending through a hole in the pipe I2 at a point just below the upper wall of the container. The joint is soldered or otherwise made tight. The upper end of this tube is also turned at right angles and is set into and sealed within a small plug 6! that is threadably mounted in pipe I! near the upper end of the latter. Plug Bl also receives the threaded inner end of a vent tube 62, the bore of which registers with the bore of tube 8!). Tube 62 projects through cylindrical casing 41 and carries a tire valve in its extremity. A cap 63 with a center post 64 is adapted when threaded upwardly to open the tire valve, permitting'gas to escape and thereby lowering the pressure in,

the container.

In cases where container 9 is not a barrel or keg but is a'special container to which the beverage is piped, it is necessary for the operator in filling the container to open the valve in pipe 62 in order to exhaust the air above the entering beverage and permit the beverage to rise to the desired height in the container.

Suitable means are provided for sealing the pipe I2 into the opening in the top of container 9. As illustrated herein the container may include a hollow plug 65 threadably mounted in the opening in the container and externally threaded to take a packing gland 66 containing a packing 61 which may be compressed to tightly grip the pipe and to seal the joint between it and the container.

As a means for cooling the head 20 at the upper end of the tap tube I may provide a small tubular conductor I0 within casing 41, having at its upper end a plug 'II with an extremely fine drilled passage therethrough acting as a nozzle through which cold water may be sprayed against the base of the head. This spray is so fine that it produces a mist within the casing, and the consumption of water is very light. The conductor iii may be connected with any convenient source of cold water. It is caused to project through one of the openings 58 in cap 53 and upwardly through one of the openings 56 in plate 48. It may be supported by any sulta ble means either from that plate or from cap 53.

It is not always desirable or convenient to use a container of any kind in the cabinet. In some cases the keg or other container may be located below the floor of the room in which the cabinet is positioned. An arrangement for this purpose is illustrated in Fig. 3. Here the pipe I2 is of somewhat reduced length and is suitably connected below the top of cabinet I0 with a tubular conductor 68 which extends down through the cabinet into any storing and cooling compartment which may be available. There it is joined by suitable connections with a tap tube 69 of conventional character, that is one with an internal diameter of five-eighths of an inch approximately, that is connected into the container HI and sealed by suitable means indicated generally at II. This connection includes provision for receiving through a conductor I2 carbon dioxide gas or air under pressure, which provides counterpressure to hold the activated gases 7 in the beverage and pressure to lift the beverage through the tube 69, conductor 58 and the tap tube I2 of my invention up to the facuet, not shown. While in this case the quantity of beverage standing at any given time in the connections between the container and the faucet is greater than in my preferred form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, still it is much less than where the beverage is conducted through a coil of pipe in a cooling vessel or receptacle which has been commonly done heretofore.

The tube I6 is preferably of an outer diameter of one-quarter inch, and a bore of approximately three-sixteenths of an inch. Consequently the entire volumetric capacity of the tube in the usual installation is no more than a few cubic inches. Even this small amount of beverage however is maintained at substantially the desired temperature for considerable periods owing to the insulation provided by the space within pipe I2 and the circulation of cooling air within the cylindrical casing 41.

When the faucet is opened beverage flows upwardly through the tube l6 with very little agitation. The pressure on the liquid at the top of tube 16 or in the head 20 is greatly reduced from that in the container itself largely, I believe, because of the friction presented by the Walls of the tube, the small bore of the tube causing this friction to be effective against substantially all of the liquid flowing through the tube. Additionally, the throttle valve 30 serves to regulate the flow within fine limits, and since the knob 29 is within easy reach of the operator while drawing beverage he may readily tune the fiow to give best results.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In dispensing apparatus for drawing beverages containing activating gases from a container, a cabinet, a draft pipe adapted to be mounted in the container with one end projecting therefrom, an inner tube mounted in said pipe, said tube being of less external diameter than the internal diameter of said pipe, a head in which the upper end of said pipe is mounted, a faucet carried by said head, said head having a passage therethrough for connecting said tube with said faucet, a cylindrical casing surrounding said pipe and extending from said head downwardly to said cabinet, and means extending upwardly from the cabinet through said casing for producing a fine spray of cold water within the casing beneath said head.

2. In dispensing apparatus for drawing beverages from containers replaceably mounted in a cabinet wherein a draft pipe is mounted in the container with one end projecting therefrom and a head is mounted on the projecting end of said pipe carrying a dispensing faucet communicating with said pipe, the combination of a cylindrical casing surrounding said pipe and extending from said head downwardly to said cabinet, a cylindrical sleeve adapted to snugly receive the lower end of said casing, there being an opening through said top cabinet wall through which said sleeve passes, a collar fixed on the outer wall of said sleeve and engaging the upper surface of said cabinet wall, a securing member attached to the lower end of said sleeve and engaging the lower surface of said cabinet wall, a deformation on the inner wall of said sleeve engaging the lower end of said casing and limiting the downward movement thereof, and said sleeve and casing interengaging sufficiently to provide the sole support for holding said head and faucet firmly in position when said casing engages said deforma tion.

HERMAN H. HARR. 

